Hitting town late Wednesday evening for the annual SXSW music-industry conference and fest in Austin, TX, social media was making it clear that the hot spots of the night were Fiona Apple’s set for NPR music and Lionel Richie’s headlining spot at the Billboard magazine showcase. (Hit the links for reviews.) Over in East Austin, though, classic Crescent City hip-hop and bounce was in the house at Club Volstead, an outdoor venue that last year hosted a diverse New Orleans day show that featured the Lost Bayou Ramblers and several local indie-rock bands.

Bounce artist Katey Red organized a SXSW showcase featuring Nicky da B, Magnolia Rhome and JC Styles. Mannie Fresh also turned up to push the dance party over the top.

Juvenile had been on the bill for the event initially, though he had to cancel at the last minute due to a foot injury. (He’s still supposed to make his way to Austin before the weekend expires.)

From the look of the crowd, most had been drawn by the gay bounce contingent spearheaded by veteran Katey Red, who traveled to Austin with an entourage of 20. Red, DJs Shay and Rusty Lazer, and new faces Magnolia Rhome and JC Styles held down the backyard for several hours, pumping classic bounce for a crowd of enthusiastic Texas hipsters – at least two of whom perched in a tree for a better view.

Nicky da B, a young bounce artist who’s emerged over the past year, hit the stage as we arrived with a crew of well-coordinated shakers for the local club hit “Drop It Hot Potato Style” and his recent Diplo-produced track “Express Yourself.” Katey Red, in skintight spangly black and gold, followed with her dancing crew of bouncy teens and glamorous queens. Sporting a massive grin and a curly weave that fluttered around her shoulders in the breeze from a strategically placed onstage fan, she barked out dance directions and rapped old and new songs, from 1999’s “Punk Under Pressure” to last year’s “Where Tha Melph At.” It was not a small crowd, but in true N.O. style, the numbers onstage nearly equaled those in the audience.

Following Katey, the dance party shifted gears with the appearance of New Orleans rising star and recent Offbeat magazine cover subject Dee-1, who delivered recent cuts from his latest “I Hope They Hear Me” mixtape as well as his apparent career-making hit “Jay, 50 and Weezy,” of 2009 vintage. Dee held it down until iconic DJ Mannie Fresh arrived with his longtime turntable partner DJ Wop, and the trio cranked the dance party with old-school New Orleans cuts like “Back That Azz Up” (both the Juvenile and DJ Jubilee versions) and Magnolia Shorty’s “Monkey On A D***.”

For anyone who’s followed Dee-1’s career, it was satisfying to see him share the mic and the stage with Fresh, when the latter emerged from behind the decks and started rapping. Years ago, Dee’s desire to work with Fresh was an essential element of his story; he’d spotted the star producer in an AutoZone and handed off a CD. (He even recorded a song about the experience, in 2008.)

Four years later, the two traded verses like old buddies on Big Tymers tunes like “Project Chick” and “Get Ya Roll On.”

I should mention that critics who cover SXSW generally tend to treat the task like reporting on a brontosaurus; you’re remiss if you don’t lead with a mention of just how overwhelmingly, almost indescribably big it is. And, hey – it is huge. Dozens of official venues and hundreds of unofficial venues host thousands of band, films and interactive media phenomena and millions of fans, creating about a hundred million dollars of reported economic impact on the city of Austin and probably billions of dollars of eventual impact on the international entertainment industry as a whole.

It’s dizzying, and more so each year. Try to interpret the zeitgeist of the event? It’s hard enough to figure out which shows to commit to. With such exponential growth, also has come a wildly expanding diversity of offerings – not to mention ever-shinier marquee names. Does one go for the hot ticket and known quantity, like Fiona Apple? Or roll the dice on a night of Japanese pop or Mexican rock n’roll?

Even if you choose to stay within your favorite genre, you’re still not home safe in terms of destination. On Twitter, roots-music publicist Cary Baker (who has attended every SXSW, since 1987) wondered whether to commit to the Nerves’ Peter Case, seminal power-poppers the dB’s, or Ruthie Foster; from what seemed like another musical planet, fest hip-hop booker Matt Sonzala trumpeted Big K.R.I.T., Young Money and Shady 2.0 (Eminem’s label) events.

Wednesday night at Volstead, as one New Orleanian steeled herself for the coming onslaught, was a perfect respite. As two dozen butt-shakers of varying age and gender identity hollered and wobbled onstage, shouting out the words to Crescent City hip-hop classics spun by a veteran and rapped by a rising star, it was comforting to know one thing - even amid the annual Austin madness, ain’t no party like a NOLA party.